The Rose's Thorns
by Akrivus
Summary: While Steven is facing trial on Homeworld for his mother's crimes, his friends and family are struggling to come to terms with his absence.
1. Chapter 1

Steven opened his eyes aboard a Gem stealth carrier headed straight to Homeworld. He fidgeted, trying to move around, only to find himself in the last place he was, in the back of Topaz, the personal muscle and henchman of Aquamarine.

"Finally," she sighed, "now can we go back to Homeworld already!"

"But I'm already in my homeworld!" shouted the familiar voice of Jamie, the mailman.

"Don't panic Jamie!" Steven said, struggling to regain his senses.

"I haven't even delivered all the mail today!"

"Don't worry! I'll figure something out!"

"Hurry Steven! The threat of us perishing in this quagmire of yellow is beyond real! A real encompassing kind of real real! This neon death trap that has imprisoned us so tightly that our bodies will rupture and die like a flower in the wind!"

Steven looked around as Topaz walked towards the front of the ship. He felt a hand slap against his face, and looked up to see Lars, his eyes bloodshot and red as the constraints of Topaz's body pulled on his face so hard he could barely blink.

"Lars! Stop! I need to concentrate!" Steven demanded.

Aquamarine flew up to her control station and muttered, "If I ever get sent on another mission to this run down rock, it will be too soon. What an ordeal, but my diamonds needed me. That's the burden of being the best!"

"What injustice is this!" Jamie shouted, "just a sick, twisted augmentation of symbols!"

"Will you stop! You are ruining my moment!" Aquamarine shouted.

Steven tried looking around more, but he couldn't move any further than he already could. With his view obstructed and his body surrounded and closed in on, Steven closed his eyes and began to focus, calming the inner conflict and propagating his energies outward, forming a bubble around him that slowly expanded around him inside of Topaz.

For a second, Topaz didn't notice, but her eyes immediately widened when she realized what exactly what happening inside her, but before she could respond, the outward blast split her in two, causing her body to reform as two Topazes, and startle Aquamarine.

"For heaven's sake! How hard is it to settle down a couple humans?" she shouted, "Topaz, get this mess cleaned up, and Topaz, help her out! I'm setting a course."

One of the Topazes immediately charged at Steven, who had just regained his footing. He summoned his shield, pushing the Topaz back, and looking for Connie. She held off the other Topaz with her sword as it tried to dodge and defend itself from the pink saber. The Topaz that had just engaged Steven brought forth a large mallet, and ran towards Connie.

"Connie! Look out!" Steven shouted, throwing his shield and deflecting the Topaz's blow.

Connie ducked, and swung her sword at Topaz's legs, knocking her off balance. The other Topaz came from behind and grabbed Steven by the arms, pulling on them, trying to incapacitate him. He kicked his feet back and forced Topaz to bend over, dropping him on the ground where he grabbed his shield and slammed it into Topaz's gem, cracking it.

Topaz rebounded, falling forward with a closed fist, attempting to make all the damage possible in her newly deformed state. Steven flew up, dodging, and threw a shield to the back of her head, knocking her down some more.

Topaz's form flickered as she fell to her knees, her head against the wall. Steven floated over her and watched, before turning around and being slammed into a wall by the other Topaz. She charged forward with great strides, ramming her head into Steven's chest, causing his neck to whip back as blood and air escaped from his mouth. He grabbed her gem, only to be flung across the ship at near terminal velocity.

The cracked Topaz ran for Connie, knocking her sword out of her hands and grabbing her, throwing her into Steven. He laid, stunned from the impact, but quickly awoken when Connie gave him a quick and vigorous shake.

"Are you alright Connie?" Steven asked, holding his head.

Connie moaned, "yes, I'm fine, it's just a scratch."

Steven braced for a final impact as the two Topazes barrelled forward, before summoning a spiked bubble, sending the twin fighters back. Connie ran to her sword, Steven summoned a shield and followed suit.

"Steven! Let's fuse!"

"No," Steven answered, "that'll only give them one target!"

"Wrap it up down there Topaz! We're leaving the atmosphere" Aquamarine commanded.

The two Topazes looked at each other, the cracked one grabbing Sadie and looking over to Lars, who immediately ran deeper into the ship. Figuring he'd stay in check, the two were about to fuse when Steven jumped towards the cracked Topaz, knocking her over, and finally, in a decisive blow by Connie, poofed the bulking behemoth. Her cracked yellow gem fell to the ground, where it bounced a couple times before settling.

"Connie! Get to the door!" Steven shouted.

"What about you!"

"I got this!"

Aquamarine stood out of her seat, and turned around, "I can't believe you two," she stopped, noticing one of the Topazes were absent, "I can't believe you're getting," then she noticed the cracked gem, and steam flew from her ears.

"How can Yellow Diamond's best warriors get beaten so vigorously by the likes of a couple of humans! This is embarrassing not only to me but to your Homeworld!"

One of the Topazes looked at Aquamarine with a hopeless expression, prompting a look of disgusting and the formation of her water wings.

"Of course, I have to get involved in everything." she said to herself, removing her ribbon and straightening it, turning it into a wand and firing a blast of zero-point energy at Connie as she headed for the door, freezing her instantly.

She lifted the frozen human with her wand and threw her into a wall, her body crumpling inside of the blue energy. Steven shouted for Aquamarine to stop, but all he got was a sadistic laugh.

"You're redundant, they never told us they wanted them alive, so how about you stop fighting and maybe I'll let your friend here live."

Steven braced for a jump, but realized the implications. He looked down, unsummoned his shield, and nodded.

"Good." she said, slamming Connie into the ground, deactivating her wand's grip on her.

Steven ran to Connie's side when she dropped, her body was limp and mangled, the others looked over at them in shock, Jamie covering his eyes, Onion hiding behind him, and Sadie's mouth agape. Lars watched from the stairs, paralyzed by what he just saw.

"Connie?" Steven whispered, checking if she was responding.

He checked her pulse, it was faint, but there, and he knew what he had to do, he looked at Aquamarine, then at Connie, and then to his friends. Steven looked down at Connie, his fingers gracing her face, going from her forehead, down her nose, and finally to her lips. He went down, kissing her forehead, before gently setting her down. He looked over at Sadie and Jamie, nodding, as they rushed to drag her away.

Steven looked up at Aquamarine, this was it, he told himself. She smiled, only to have her smug moment ruined as the ship rocked to the side.

"What is happening?" she asked, "we haven't even exited the atmosphere yet!"

The door opened, revealing Alexandrite, the gigantic fiery fusion made up of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Together, they stood tall enough to be seen by the nearest city. She had the ship in her hands, and immediately lowered it closer to the ocean. Connie, whose mangled body was magically fixed by Steven's kiss, stood by the door, waiting for Steven's command.

He turned around, "jump!" he shouted.

Onion immediately ran out and jumped into the ocean below.

"What, are you insane?" Sadie shouted back.

"I can't move my legs!" Jamie cried.

Connie pushed Jamie off of the ship, Sadie followed suit on her own, she waited for Steven to follow, but he seemed reluctant, as if he wanted to stay. He looked at Aquamarine, and then to Connie, running towards her and pushing her off. He took a single step, but immediately, felt Aquamarine's unbridled power freeze everyone but him.

"You think I'm just going to let this slide? I have a diamond to please and I can't waste my time restarting my efforts!" she yelled.

"Well," Steven replied, turning around, "I'm not who I say I am."

"You mean to tell me this entire mission has been jeopardized!?"

Aquamarine lost her focus, deactivating her wand, freeing Steven's friends. Alexandrite unfused, her constituents falling into the water separately, reappearing as soon as they regained stability.

"Steven! What are you doing?" Pearl shouted.

"Steven! Jump!" Connie screamed.

Steven looked at Connie, then to Aquamarine. He curled his hands into a fist, his voice dark and monotone as he uttered, "I can make your mission end quicker."

"Oh?" Aquamarine said, interested, "how do you propose that will work?"

He breathed in, looking at Connie one more time. The rest of the Crystal Gem's jaws dropped when they realized what he was about to do.

"I'm not who I say I am, I am not my dad, I am Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems, and I will never, I repeat, never, let you steal this planet's inhabitants! You will have to take me before you take them, and I already know the Diamonds will be much satisfied with my return."

Pearl screamed, Amethyst tried jumping out of the water, but couldn't make it. The ship slowly hovered upwards, preparing to take off.

"How could you do this to us?" Garnet shouted.

Pearl cried, tears streaming down her face. Amethyst yelled in rage, "I'll… I'll beat you up if you don't come down here this instant!" she said, tears coming down her face.

"Steven! Come down! Don't do this! Come down!" Connie pleaded.

"I figured it out now, this was the destiny that she gave me, this is what I was meant to do."

"You're wrong! Don't do this!" Garnet cried.

"Steven! Stop!" Connie screamed, her voice cracking, "you belong here, with me!"

Steven looked up and gulped, a tear running down his face, his hands shaking as he tried to speak. He looked at Connie, wiped the tears off of his face with his arm, and tried to articulate, stuttering with each attempt.

"I love you," he shouted, as Topaz grabbed Steven's arms, "I love you!" he said, as he was dragged away into the ship, "I'll come back! Believe in me Connie!"

He shouted once more for Connie, but the ship's doors closed on him, and the ship immediately flew away, exiting the Earth's atmosphere. Connie looked up at the heavens where Steven left her, tears running down her face.

"No… no… no… we have to go back and find him!"

"We can't!" Garnet cried.

"I…" Connie stuttered, "I would have…" she continued, "I wanted… I never… I…"

Sadie put her hand on Connie's shoulder, "it's alright Connie, we'll make it, he'll make it, that's how Steven does it. He'll be back soon."

"No!" Connie shouted, "you don't understand! I wanted to fight for Steven, I wanted… I wanted to die for him! You will never see Steven the same way that I see him!"

Sadie immediately realized what Connie was about to do and tried to wrap her arms around her, just before she surged under the surface, forcefully attempting to make herself sink. Pearl screamed, and followed Sadie as she went underwater to rescue Connie. As she sank under, her eyes rolled up, admiring the peace and serenity under the waves, her hair floating in every direction as the water tried pushing her up. Bubbles escaped from her mouth as she tried to expel the air from her lungs.

She screamed underwater as Sadie grabbed her left arm and Pearl grabbed her right. She thrashed violently underwater, trying to deter her saviors. With each ounce of energy in her lost to the waves, more and more did she feel her life had lost meaning, without Steven she was nobody's knight, subservient to nobody, and as free as that sounded, she spent the past two years believing otherwise.

"Are you crazy?" Sadie shouted, "you almost… I'm sorry Connie."

"Connie please," Pearl cried, "I've already lost Steven, I can't lose you too."

Connie switched between violently gasping for air and crying, she shook violently as the adrenaline took hold of her body. Had she gone deeper one would have thought she had the bends as she tried curling up into a ball, almost in pain if she wasn't. Garnet led the group to swim towards the shore as Connie cried on Pearl, who held her in a warm, protective embrace, knowing fully well that she too, felt the same exact pain Connie was experiencing now.

"With time, you will learn to be stronger, and you will be stronger than I ever will be Connie, because unlike me, a piece of Rose was still left behind."

Connie screamed louder as Pearl tried to make her feel better.

"You're doing it wrong Pearl, stop!" Sadie said.

"What am I doing wrong? I know how she feels! I'm telling her how it will work!"

"Pearl, you're basically telling her Steven is never coming back."

More tears ran down Pearl's face. She laid her head back into the water and looked up at the sky, using her legs to propel her back to shore as Connie laid on her chest.

"He's never coming back. What am I going to do?" Connie cried.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Connie swam to shore, she immediately got to her feet and ran to town. It didn't cross anyone's mind where she was going, especially considering how fast everything around them was happening. She sprinted south down the boardwalk, before going up a street and breaking off at a colorful building, labeled in neon "It's A Wash."

"Connie! Wait! Stop!" shouted Pearl in the distance.

Connie froze, and turned around, looking at Pearl running towards her with tear-stained eyes.

"Not right now, he's not ready for it."

The van doors in the back opened up, revealing a sleep deprived Greg, "Alright, I've been alive long enough to know that when I hear Pearl yelling and see a spaceship, something's gone haywire," he looked around, "where is Steven?"

Pearl looked at Greg, looked at the ground, then to Connie.

Connie stepped forward and attempted to explain, "Two gems came and kidnapped everyone, they were looking for you but they took Steven instead. He sacrificed himself to save us by telling them that he was Rose Quartz."

"You mean he turned himself in?"

"Yes." Connie sighed.

"Well? What are you doing? Get him back!"

"I… I'm sorry…"

Greg's face shook in disbelief, "what do you mean you're sorry?"

"Sorry Greg, we were going to tell you sooner," Pearl said.

"No, he… he didn't… he didn't… die, did he?" he asked, his words refusing to come out.

"I'm so sorry Greg, I just…" Pearl said, trying to comfort him.

"No, I… I felt like this would happen someday… I knew I'd find myself outgrowing my kids."

Connie wiped the tears off of her face, her hands shaking from both the cold ocean water and the anxiety. She was usually calm and levelheaded until now.

"Mr. Universe, I'm sorry…"

Greg sighed, "Don't beat yourself up about it Connie, Rose and Steven had a lot in common, I just… you should go, try to relax, and I'm not just saying that for you, I need my space too."

"I understand, sorry Mr. Universe," Connie said, running away.

Pearl stayed and stared at Greg, "you… she… she… she tried to drown herself…"

"I'd do the same thing honestly…"

"Greg… I know you do this all the time but, please don't do anything stupid…"

"Like what? Expect my half human half gem son not to die in some old gem war?"

"No… I just… Connie is young, and she seems like she has a lot more to live for than… you… no, but you, Greg, you're old, you…"

"Telling the man he's too old when his son died? I get it…"

"No! I meant to say that you might think you don't have anything to live for, but you do!"

"What do I have Pearl? I put everything in music, and then into Rose when I met her, and then my son, and now he's gone. I insist you tell me what I fucking have."

Pearl looked at the ground, "you have your… car wash… your money…"

Greg's eyes filled with tears, "you can't… you can't just replace your son with money…"

"I'm sorry Greg, I just… I understand but I don't…"

"I understand Pearl, that's why I'm politely asking you to leave and not waving a gun at you."

"Damn it Greg! I meant, I meant don't shoot yourself!"

"Why?"

"Because even though Steven isn't my son, I loved him too, and you loved him. I just…"

Greg's face drooped, he scratched the back of his head, "I get it Pearl. I just need a break."

"I… I understand. I'll go."

"Good night Pearl."

Pearl slowly waved back before walking away. Greg reached out and closed the van doors, before sitting down and looking at the floor. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead, buried his face into his hands, and started to cry.

Meanwhile, Pearl caught up to Connie and the two walked together, still grief stricken.

"He's never coming back, is he?" Connie asked.

Pearl ignored her.

"Pearl, is he coming back?"

"I don't know," Pearl replied.

"Well, it is a little late, can I stay at your place?" Connie asked.

"Fine," she replied, "nobody is going to even be using that house anyways."

"Thank you Pearl."

When the two were halfway to the beach house, they heard a familiar voice.

"Lars!? Lars!" shouted Sadie.

Connie rushed over to Sadie, "What's going on now?"

"I haven't seen Lars anywhere since we got off."

Pearl looked at Connie, "come to think of it, I don't remember ever seeing him jump out."

"Oh no… he's still on the ship!" Sadie cried, "what am I going to tell his parents!?"

"What are Peridot and Lapis going to think of all this." Connie asked.

Pearl's eyes widened, "I think I know how we can get him back."

"You mean, Lapis can fly us to Homeworld?"

"Only us, Connie, you wouldn't survive space."

"What about Lion?"

"This is all great, guys, seriously, keep up the good work," Sadie said, awkwardly stepping into their conversation, "and, Connie, if you ever need anything, I'll be there for you, you can find me at the Big Donut when it's open."

"Thank you, Sadie." Connie said.

"Bye," Sadie said, nervously laughing, "I hope I don't get abducted… again…"

"Too soon…"

"I know, sorry… I'll just go." Sadie said, before walking off to conclude her search for Lars.

The two continued walking to the beach house, completely silent. It never struck them as to how attached they were to Steven. Pearl felt a sense of mourning with Steven's loss, she thought of him almost like a son, while Connie was best friends with Steven.

Connie remembered her last moments seeing Steven. She was screaming so loudly at that time that she never heard what he said, but she regardless, she knew what he said. _I love you_ , he said, so many times, louder and louder, he told her to believe him, believe in his return.

 _Was it all a big lie to keep her happy?_

 _How long before Steven can find his own way back?_

 _Is he even coming back?_

 _What will happen if I finally move on and he just returns._

 _How long has he felt this way about me?_

 _I wish I knew how much he felt about me, maybe then I'd…_

 _I've spent the last two years, liking him, and I was too stupid to see he liked me back._

 _I wish I told him how much I loved him._

 _How does he feel now? How does he feel about me?_

 _I should have told him how much I needed him, how much I didn't want him to go._

 _I wanted to let him know that I would die for him._

 _I wish I told him that before he left._

All the questions, wishes, and regrets overwhelmed Connie's mind to the breaking point, she fell to the ground, looking at the sky, screaming at the top of her lungs, the acoustics of the mountain temple bouncing the noise off, making it audible for miles. It was so loud it would have woken everyone in the town from their sleep, including her parents.

"What was that?" her mother asked while erecting herself from bed.

"Doug?" she asked, "What was that? It sounded like Connie?"

"She's with Steven…"

"Doing… gem things?"

The two made no effort to get themselves ready, Priyanka was already in her nightgown and Doug quickly put on an old shirt and straightened out his briefs before running outside and getting into the car. They backed out of the driveway and sped off to the beach.

Meanwhile, at the temple, Pearl sat with Connie, trying her best to comfort her. Amethyst had heard the commotion and came down, and it wasn't long until Greg's van drove towards them and Lapis flew overhead with Peridot riding her shoulders.

"I hear Connie! Is she alright!" Priyanka said as she bolted out of her husband's car. Doug quickly followed, in a stained white shirt and briefs.

Priyanka shoved Amethyst and Pearl to the side, "out of my way!"

She stopped and quickly examined Connie who was still yelling, "Connie?" she called out, her voice shaking with fear, "can you hear me?"

"Calm down! She's just having a breakdown!" Greg explained as he left the van.

"What's going on? Where's Steven?" Peridot asked, looking for him.

Greg put his hands over his face again, knowing Peridot and Lapis were only going to make the situation worse with their naivety.

"Why is she having a breakdown? What happened here?" Priyanka asked frantically.

Doug cradled Connie, attempting to calm her down, but she continued to scream, tears running down her face. Finally, her voice cracked, flickered, and then died, she began to cough and hack up, and then looked around, seemingly confused.

Pearl stood up, "alright, since everyone's here, I best explain what's happening."

"You better! Or she'll never see Steven again!"

"Where is Steven!?" Peridot and Lapis asked in unison.

"Steven is… well…"

"He's dead!" Connie shouted, her voice dry and forced.

"No!"

"What do you mean he's dead?"

"He sacrificed himself to save us, Homeworld is now taking him back so he can face the crimes that his mother committed against the Diamonds."

"I'll save you Steven!" Lapis exclaimed poetically, before bolting into the sky, her water wings materializing, propelling her further in the air.

"Lapis! Hey Lapis! Wait up!" Peridot shouted.

Pearl started shaking her head in disbelief.

"Connie, you're coming home with us," Priyanka said, "we'll get you a therapist tomorrow."

"No!" Connie shouted, "I'm staying here!"

"You will not!"

"Yes I will!"

"Since Lapis and Steven are gone and I'm all alone, can I be the new Steven?" Peridot asked.

"No! I'm the new Steven!" Connie shouted, looking down, "but I'll never be as good as him."

What was originally an attempt at comforting Connie now became an enormous argument debating Peridot's likelihood of replacing Steven, Connie's mental state, letting Connie or Peridot stay for the night, and tearing down the beach house. It was in the heat of this argument, that finally, Garnet stepped out of the door.

"Everyone be quiet!" Garnet shouted from afar.

Everyone immediately quieted down.

"Connie and Peridot will be staying with us for now, nobody is going to be replacing Steven, and no Pearl, we are not tearing down the beach house!"

"But she's my daughter!" detested Priyanka.

"Your daughter is grieving over the loss of a loved one, she'll return when she's ready."

Pearl tried to make a statement, but was deterred when Garnet gave her a glare.

"Look, this is all great," Greg said, "but what about the bigger issue here, what is going to happen to Steven when he arrives on Homeworld, and how long will it be?"

Everyone looked at Peridot.

"I don't know, I'm a Kindergartener, ask Lapis."

Everyone looked at the sky.

Peridot sighed, "assuming the ship is using its gravity drive, Steven could already be there by now, if not, I would imagine it would take somewhere near a century to get there."

"A century!?" Greg and Connie shouted.

"Yes, but knowing how much the Diamonds will want him, they'll be using the gravity drive."

"What happens when he gets there?"

"Right, I'm not Lapis, but I'm pretty sure the Diamonds would want to hold trial immediately after they verify that this is the real Rose Quartz, they'll ask for gem facet and cut, but since Steven doesn't know that…"

"He won't be executed!" Connie screamed excitedly.

"Right… well, the problem is, you can still find that information, just not explicitly from the gem itself, most reverse gemetics aren't accurate, so they'd probably go back to the exit hole Rose Quartz was created in."

"Peridot, please." Greg stammered.

"Right," Peridot said, sighing, "since the Rebellion, all Rose Quartzes are shattered upon discovery, there are trials, but they are usually unanimous given the Diamond's opinion."

"You mean he could be dead by now?" Connie asked.

"Well, no, they have to verify he is a Rose Quartz, but since he said so, yes, he probably is."

"How long before Lapis gets to Homeworld?" Pearl asked.

"Five months."

Connie curled into a ball and buried her face into her knees. Doug and Priyanka looked at each other, then to Garnet, "we trust you, she can stay, but, we want to check on her when we can."

Garnet nodded, "of course, give her a week and she'll be back."

"A week? But she has school tomorrow!"

"Pearl and I will handle that if necessary."

Doug and Priyanka looked at each other again, "alright then."

The two waved at their daughter, who was still cradling herself, before going into their car and leaving. Greg waved them goodbye, and then continued listening to the discussion.

"Is there any way to get to Homeworld directly?" Garnet asked.

"The Galaxy Warp, but only Steven can fix that."

"The Diamonds still think the Cluster is active, could they send her back?" she asked again.

"No, they'd hold a public shattering, or worse."

"What's worse than shattering?" Connie asked.

"I don't know, but the Diamonds will do it."

Pearl paced around, "there needs to be some way we can intercept that ship…"


End file.
